Specialist
Former VP at French luxury retailer
Agenda
- Organic sales growth outlook across categories, including differences between hard and soft luxury goods
- Channel mix analysis – retail growth and online outlook
- Competitive analysis – Gucci (PAR: KER) vs Hermès (PAR: RMS) vs Louis Vuitton (PAR: MC)
- Profitability outlook and expansion opportunities across beauty category
Questions
1.
How has mainland China’s personal luxury goods sales market trended since June 2022?
2.
Which brands are best positioned to perform in uncertain market conditions, which you just alluded to?
3.
How might Hermès and Chanel grow vs Dior and Gucci in a volatile environment?
4.
How does a lower customer demand impact the inventory levels of companies such as Gucci and Burberry? Could we see more excess seasonal stock? How might Gucci or other players shift these stock?
5.
How do you see promotional levels trending in 2022-23? Do you see companies such as Louis Vuitton having more promotions such as discounting?
6.
How do you see prices trending over the next 6-12 months in the personal luxury goods market? How much headroom is there for mega brands, and how does it compare to the super brands that you mentioned?
7.
Which brands are likely to get into the super brand club? Is there a potential for brands such as Gucci or Prada?
8.
Have you noticed any change in Gucci’s strategy since the appointment of Laurent Cathala as President of the Greater China fashion business?
9.
How long will it take for Gucci to turn around its business?
10.
A lot of super brands such as Hermès and Chanel are benefiting from the current demand, and it seems consumers perceive their products as an investment and a source of value in such uncertain times. How sustainable could the growth be in the long run, and what does it mean in terms of a price increase over the long run?
11.
What’s your outlook for the luxury goods’ price gap between China and Europe? Could this gap get smaller?
12.
What’s a sustainable price gap between mainland China and Europe?
13.
What were the product dynamics in Q3 2022 across soft goods such as leather goods and ready-to-wear vs those in hard goods such as watches and jewellery? Which categories might outperform in the long run?
14.
Is there an opportunity for leading brands to expand their beauty category?
15.
How much of a threat are China’s domestic brands to the European brands that we discussed earlier?
16.
How important is it for leading luxury brands to increase their China-related symbolism across their offerings? Would that help them in the long term in competing against the local brands?
17.
What are the online penetration levels in China, and how could that grow in the coming 2-3 years?
18.
How might profitability for retail and offline channels trend in the coming 2-3 years in China?